A group of our REV students walked into a room full of strangers and communicated with them. Not with the partners who know their rhythms, but with people they had never met. Then we gave them the floor. They taught a room of parents how to become better communication partners. And every time, it came back to the same place: presume competence. Believe that I am here. Believe that I am capable.

Presuming competence was never meant to be conditional. Yet some approaches in our field are quietly recreating the same barriers we set out to dismantle. Families and educators are being told “not yet” when students seek new tools or pathways. This piece calls us back to our foundation: access first, always, and learning environments that adapt to the student—not the other way around.